Toyota announced the suspension of all production on its Japan-based manufacturing facilities after an explosion at a steel plant of one of their partners.
The explosion happened at an Aichi Steel factory and is expected to impact the production output of the No.1 car maker in the world, which produces around 40% of its products locally in Japan.
Toyota released the following statement:
“Due to parts shortages resulting from an explosion that occurred on January 8 at an Aichi Steel Corporation (Aichi Steel) manufacturing facility, Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) will suspend all production on its vehicle assembly lines within Japan from February 8 through 13.
Operations are scheduled to recommence on February 15, and vehicle production on lines outside Japan will not be suspended.
Toyota will continue to take any measures necessary to minimize the impact of this incident on vehicle production. Such measures may include production on alternate lines operated by Aichi Steel and procurement from other steelmakers.”
With models like the all-new Prius hybrid produced in Japan, Toyota's plan to build 10.2 million cars worldwide this year is off to a rough start.